Central and East European Training Center for Chinese teachers

NEWS

Second board meeting of the European Chinese Language Teaching Association

May 30, 2015

The meeting took place on Saturday 30 May, 2015 in the conference room of the Central and East European Training Center for Chinese teachers.

Dr Imre Hamar, Director of ELTE Confucius Institute, Head of Department of Japanese Studies and Chinese Studies, Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies, represented Hungary; Wang Peiwen, Professor at Forest Montargis Secondary School and Joel Bel Lassen, Professor at the Institution of Oriental Languages and Cultures of the French National Education Ministry represented France. On behalf of England Zhang Xinsheng, Professor at the Centre of Modern Languages of Richmond University, and on behalf of Spain Zhou Minkang, Professor at the University of Barcelona, took part in the meeting. Germany was represented by Henning Kötler, Professor at Göttingen Georg_August University. From the Netherlands Cao Xuefei, Professor at the Confucius Institute of Groningen represented the institute on behalf of C.M Smulders, who was unfortunately unable to attend.

Ye Qiuyue, Educational Director of the Central and East European Training Center for Chinese teachers, and Li Min, Chinese Director of ELTE Confucius Institute, were also present.

November 4, 2014.

At the Opening Ceremony of the Training Centre Dr László Szabó (Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations), Xiao Qian (Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Hungary), Dr Barna Mezey (Rector of Eötvös Loránd University), Wang Yongli (Deputy Director of Hanban), Yan Guohua (Vice-Rector of Beijing Foreign Studies University), and Dr Tamás Dezső (Dean of ELTE Faculty of Humanities) delivered speeches. After the speeches, Dr Ferenc Hudecz (former Rector of ELTE and Honorary Member of the Board of Directors of Hanban) and Dr Zoltán Maruzsa (Deputy Secretary of State for Higher Education) joined the group and together the gentlemen cut the red ribbon symbolizing the official opening of the Centre; they also unveiled the commemorative plaque which will hang on the wall at the entrance of ELTE Confucius Institute.

The programme of the Opening Ceremony was enlivened by a performance by the ELTE Pro Musica Mixed Choir, piano and ‘cello performances by ELTE Music Department students, Tong Gelage’s Mongol folksong, a kungfu display and tiger dance performances.

The guests were cordially welcomed by dragon dance performers who accompanied them to the entrance of the Institute.

We hope that through the establishment of this Centre, we can create a wider and better-established network amongst countries engaged in Chinese education. Participants in the training sessions have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge on the methodology of Chinese language teaching, so it is to be expected that a general improvement in teaching standards and quality will occur in Chinese teaching at regional level.